1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to physiological health monitoring and, more particularly, to a system through which a state of a user's body can be ascertained.
2. Background Art
The state of the health of the overall population in the U.S. and in other countries is becoming increasingly troubling. Technology has facilitated productivity while permitting a sedentary lifestyle. Executives and employees now have the capability of performing a wide range of tasks worldwide while seated at a desk in front of a computer. Technology has afforded both young and old the opportunity to assimilate vast amounts of information through web accessible sources. Additionally, technological advances have made available a wide range of entertainment through information access, music, video games, etc. Interest in this entertainment spans all age groups.
While modern technology has made available resources for business and recreational purposes to all ages, exploitation of these resources often leads to a reduction in the amount of physical activity that persons engage in. The trend in the younger age groups has been to seek entertainment through technology rather than through physical activity. This has contributed to a rise in obesity which is now reaching epidemic proportions. Articles abound reporting trends in obesity, which have potential serious short and long term consequences.
Even in young persons, obesity may contribute to short and long term health and medically-related problems. Obesity may interfere with the physical and psychological development of young persons, often impairing their ability to interact in a positive way with others, and leading to psychological problems, including depression. In older age groups, some of these same problems arise. Additionally, for all ages productivity may be seriously impaired.
At the business level, consequences of obesity are even more severe. The ability of an organization to obtain medical benefits may be impaired by persons in a high risk medical category, such as obesity. It is no secret that the nation is approaching a crisis level in terms of making healthcare available to its work force.
The problem with obesity is further aggravated by the fact that technology, while offering opportunities for increased productivity, also increases expectations and demands on those in business, from top to bottom. These demands translate into additional working hours which represent even more physical “down time”.
Extended hours reduce the amount of people's free time. This encourages the need for efficiency, which in turn leads to the frequenting of fast food establishments and the consumption of foods that are convenient, but often not healthy. This trend has contributed to obesity in all age groups.
There has of late been an increasing awareness of the impact that obesity, and other physical health-related problems, induced by poor nutrition and inactive lifestyles, is having on the population as a whole. Healthcare costs are soaring. The cost of medical insurance for individuals in business is increasing at an alarming rate to the point that profitability is being affected. Further, the ability of a business to attract quality persons is often significantly affected by whether or not that business can provide to its employees an attractive and competitive benefits package.
Aside from the direct costs associated with medical problems, there is a loss of revenue due to reduced productivity. Those with health-related problems tend to account for a high level of absenteeism. Further, physical and mental capacities may be diminished in those individuals that are suffering from a health-related problem.
The recognition of the problems associated with the progressive diminishing of the population's health level has spurred an interest in reversing the above trends. Fast food establishments have been pressured into offering foods that are “fast” but at the same time in a healthier category.
More significantly, there has been an emphasis on encouraging individual accountability for a healthier lifestyle and maintenance of good health. Ideally, individuals would be able to regularly assess their own health-level to both motivate themselves to continue progressively towards improved health and identify health-related problems.
Generally, health monitoring has been achieved through periodic physical exams conducted by a medical doctor. Typically, these “physicals” are scheduled on an annual basis or potentially even less frequently. In between visits to a doctor, individuals may have few definable goals that motivate them to engage in a change in lifestyle that will improve overall health. For a large percentage of the population, there may be a small window of motivation to improve immediately following a medical examination. This motivation tends to wane significantly thereafter and up to the following medical visit.
The assignee herein has developed an extensive program to allow individuals to assess their own health on an ongoing and regular basis. One aspect of this program is carried out interactively online, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/518,781. Through this system, individuals are allowed to take measurements of various health-related attributes and determine progress towards better health by identifying problems or potential problems associated with their health.
One aspect of health assessment in the above program is the determination of body composition, which includes determination of percentages of lean muscle, fat, and water. Most commonly, these measurements are taken through a “dunk test” which requires body immersion. Clearly, it is not practical to conduct this test on a regular basis.
The assignee here has devised an instrument that is capable of generating these same measurements to substantially the same accuracy through a bio-impedance measurement. This instrument has been commercially sold under the trademark “BC1” and is also described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/518,781.
The BC1 instrument is designed with a housing having a generally cylindrical shape. The housing has axially facing walls with each supporting a plurality of electrodes. A measurement is taken by the user by having the user place his/her hands one against the electrodes at each of the walls. The housing is made with a sufficient axial extent that the electrodes can be comfortably engaged without inadvertent contact occurring between the user's hands, as would preclude a proper impedance measurement.
The BC1 instrument, in its current configuration, has been well accepted commercially. The instrument is designed to operate either in a stand alone capacity or be web-enabled to allow body composition measurements to be taken and interactively processed and analyzed. The only limitation with respect to this instrument is that the housing size and shape make it somewhat inconvenient to store and operate on a desk, counter, or the like, where space is at a premium. Ideally, the instrument would be compact and aesthetically pleasing to be kept at a location whereat it would be regularly used, such as at an executive's or employee's desk, on a counter, adjacent to a computer terminal, etc. Thus, ideally, the instrument would be kept in an operative state to be readily accessed and operated to take body state measurements so as to encourage regular health monitoring.